Strange-Hungers.net » Future

The New Design

thebigboss — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:14:40 +0000

Ta-da! I have yet again redesigned my website. It’s one of those tasks that makes feel like the site is still alive. In this case, the redesign was much needed. I have always been enamored with site design. Strange-Hungers is not my first outing in this arena. Some of my attempts were successful, but most were pure failure. Like the last design. What a flippin’ stinker that was.

Here’s why the last site didn’t work. It had a stable frame (no web pun intended) – Three columns capped top and bottom by header and footer. Main navigation was built into the header. The far left column also had navigation. The difference between the header and left column was that the left column offered more granular results. I had also mashed in there a tag cloud, search field, and content usage. The far right column display any content I coded in. In this case it was link lists and a banner. This left the site’s content struggling for attention in the center column. Finally, all of this structure was buried under graphics. It was ugly and my friends were gracious.

The new design I am proud to say I stole. Well not wholly, but in spirit. I am a fan of John Gruber’s DaringFireball.net. This tech blog uses little in the way of site graphics or complicated structure. This keeps the content easily readable. I also took note of Gruber’s rare compliments to other sites. In the end, I decided that the simpler-is-better approach was best for my site. Superfluous graphics eliminated. Strike the right column. Get rid of the fine grained browsing options. Make the page about the content and make obvious what I think is important for readers to see.

I spent several days scouring DF’s code for the clues to Gruber’s very successful design (the over-flattery is just in case he reads this). Simple and clean are great starting points, but these usually disguise more complicated means to the end. And I was right. His links behave differently according to context. Gruber also used tags that I had neglected or forgotten. His style sheet accounted for a great deal of html formatting tags. By the end of the first code read-through, I decided that I had to gut my current template.

First things first. I took to heart a comment Gruber made in his own style sheet:

If you copy without permission, I will mock you.

Alright then, don’t be a schmuck and copy and paste his code. Got it. I hate plagiarism, too. However, reading code is like reading music. Without the scores we would never know how Bach structured his symphonies. (Insert good natured ribbing from musician friends here) No one learns purely by looking or listening to a master. We learn by copying them and spinning our variations from what we learn. Mocking will come, I’m sure, but those that have the knowledge will see the distinct differences. And my failings.

In the end, I’m quite satisfied with my layout. As much as this layout was inspired by (and at times, lifted from) Gruber’s DF, this site design is my baby. It’s littered with my graphics, font and color choices, and most importantly, my content. No one can take that from me.

Looking to the Future

Stranger527 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 07:49:54 +0000

My brain is rolling around in my head like a bee-bee in one of those box games. It’s keeping me awake tonight. So much is changing in the next couple of days. You already know about my upcoming job changes. The change from having a job to not having a job. Well, that doesn’t concern me as much as the vacuum after the job. What will I do with the spare time? Oh yeah, find another job!

But what is going to happen in the periods between ad perusing, resume submissions, call-backs, and interviews? One idea I had was to get a cat. Stupid, I know. It’s like a lonely teenage girl letting herself get pregnant to fill the hours with unconditional love and the romance of parenting. None the less, a cat has been on my mind for a while and the free time at home will be a good chance to lay the ground rules and develop the connection.

To be frank, I am not too hip on the idea of finding another ‘job’. Like I mentioned last time, I don’t want to latch onto the first available employer that seems bearable. I want to find the dream situation. Decent pay, good hours, and engaging work. It’s the golden trifecta. What the details are to that is what I am having problems with. It’s going to take time to fill that in.

What can I do between? At least there I have a few ideas. I am not going to give them away here. At least not yet. Suffice it to say that I have always been very self-entertaining. It was never a matter of me not having something to do. I always manage to find projects to keep me occupied. Now it’s a matter of finding projects that I might do that can contribute to either their own up keep or even be a primary or secondary income. For a project to work at those levels, it needs time to be put together and nurtured.

I am about to get that. Now, it’s a matter of not wasting it and having courage to use it.

Future Uncertain

Stranger527 — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:50:45 +0000

It’s a strange a week ahead. It’s my last week at a job that I have been at for just short of 6 years. I made a place for myself there. It was comfortable, insulated, and I was doing things that I enjoyed. The week ahead will be filled with “last time” events. The weirdest part is that I have nothing lined up. Sure, I put in a a couple of resumes, but I doubt the depth of my interest in the jobs. When people ask what I plan on doing, I say easily “I don’t know.”

What bothers me is that “I don’t know” isn’t bothering me! I like to know where my next paycheck is coming from. No more than thirty days has ever elapsed between jobs. I’ll find something quick when I put my mind to it. Now though, I think the source of my paycheck is very important. It’s more than just putting roof overhead and food on the table. The job itself has to fill the spirit in some way. Yeah, that’s hokey, but it’s close to the truth.

What worries me now is what worries many people: What do I want to do? Ah the angst, the uncertainty. I feel like I should be in a French art house film. Set me down in a cafe and give me plenty of cigarettes and coffee. Suck the color from the world and the scene is complete. Most of the anxiety comes from the fact hat I have learned to do so many things over the past couple of decades. I learned things to survive. Know I have such a varied skill set, I am not sure what I should do.

Instead of jumping into the first job that comes available, I am going to take time to find the job that suites me. In between, I am going to take stock and assess my needs.

The Second Line

Stranger527 — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 03:34:24 +0000

Have you ever tried again and again at a particular task only to succeed and fail at the same time? If you are not sure what I mean, how about this example? You stand at the end of a field and are asked to throw a ball beyond a line. Up the field are two lines. The nearest line is a reasonable distance. Another line is further up the field. The second line can be seen from your position. You know with effort you should be able to throw the ball just beyond that line. Here’s the deal though, both lines will yield you a passing effort, but the second line will grant you greater rewards. Your first throw falls just beyond the first line. You give more effort to the second throw, but the ball falls at the same point as your first throw. You redouble your energies for the third throw. It flies higher and further than the first two attempts, but lands just a few feet in front of the second line. It is a marked improvement worth pride, but still short of your goal.

This is the feeling I have had for the past few months. I am working on acquiring Apple certifications. The company I work for is putting me through the training classes I need, shuttling me to my destinations, and flipping the bill for the tests. While getting the certifications is an accomplishment, the company’s goal is to have me later teach the classes I am taking. The score required to be considered a teaching candidate is further beyond the score needed to just receive certification. I have already taken one test three times. The above example exactly illustrates my situation. I am four lousy points away from consideration. Another test and it’s in the bag. Hell, with the leap I made between test two and three, I could ace the fourth attempt. I figure that I must have answered all the possible questions at least once and correctly, but never on a single test. Bugger!I should be proud, but I can’t help feel disappointed. I made a huge improvement, but still missed my goal.